It Started In August

Chapter 8

"I want you to spend your entire summer with me."

Okay. That was not I expected he wanted me to do. I slowly walked back and stood one foot away from him. I scanned his whole image. His hair slicked back, one sling of his bag on his shoulder, his hand holding the strap, his other hand in his pocket. He was obviously full of confidence, and his piercing green eyes contributed to make his appearance appealing enough to any girl but me.

"Okay Godfrey, why would I do that?" I fixed my glasses and removed both earpieces from my ears. I needed to fully comprehend what he had to say.

"So... You can pay your debt?" he replied, the smirk never leaving his face. It made my eyebrows knit in confusion. "I'm sorry, I am not indebted to you. If you're talking about the dress, don't worry, I'll give it back," he raised his hand to signal me to stop.

"Nope, can't do that."

I took a deep breath to keep myself from saying anything mean to him. I then gave him a slight glare so he would know that I was not playing games.

"Aster, come on. It's not that hard to just say yes," he took a step closer, and it made me raise my head so I could look at his face that was having an expression I could not identify. I looked down, preventing myself from getting lost in his eyes. My fingers started fidgeting as they started to get cold by the minute.

"The last time.." those words started to get out of my mouth subconsciously.

"Hmm?" his voice became as gentle as the afternoon breeze that made my hair slightly flow.

I took another deep breath. "The last time I said yes to someone that fast, things took a really bad turn for me."

I raised my head to meet his eyes. His eyebrows were furrowed, like he was trying to register the words that I said. Not long after, he looked down, and smiled to himself. "I understand," he said, looking at me again but this time, his expression turned into a soft stare, trying not to intimidate me, and I was taken aback.

"You do?" he chuckled and patted my head. "Yes, I do. Take your time. You still got a month to think about it," he gave me a small smile, the one that hid his teeth, but still, it looked genuine.

"Okay... Thanks, I guess," I awkwardly replied and it made him throw his head back, laughing like a little kid.

"I think you should go home. You don't have your car today," I stepped back and plugged one earpiece in my ear.

"Aw. You worried for me?" his expression went back to being playful and mischievous, and he smirked. It made me raise my eyebrow in return. He only chuckled.

"Alright, I'll go," he turned back and walked away, but seemed to remember something. He looked at me again, and he said, "Give me a signal, anything. Maybe using your bow clips or a note, " he turned away and started walking, and I stared at his back for a moment. I turned around and went home, the sunset rays and the afternoon breeze enveloping my confusing feelings.

~~~~~~~

Even when I was doing the laundry and the dishes, my mind kept replaying what happened earlier. It made me think if he was like this to the previous girls that he had if he wanted to get something from them.

I shook my head to erase the thought, but they were too loud and my brain seemed to be crowded by Shannon's warning and Alexa's grin. In the end, I blasted my music really loud to silence my thoughts.

When I was done, I went straight to my bedroom and layed down with my guitar beside me. I wanted to try, at least, to be the representative of my class. I didn't want the barriers of shyness that I built around myself to restrain me from doing what I wanted. I needed to overcome my low self-esteem.